Drug War Chronicle

Colorado's medical marijuana program is taking off, with the number of patients, recommending physicians, and dispensaries all on the rise. But a state agency has proposed rule changes that could blunt the growth, endanger the new-style dispensaries and make it more difficult for patients to obtain their medicine. There should be fireworks at Monday's public hearing on the proposal.

A report from the California Board of Equalization estimating that the state could take in $1.4 billion a year by legalizing and taxing marijuana is only adding to the mounting pressure for legalization in the Golden State, which is saddled with a $26 billion budget deficit.

Ryan Grim has produced an entertaining, enlightening, and absorbing social history of drug use in America. We have checked it out, and we think you should too.

As part of the Merida Initiative to provide Mexico with more than a billion dollars in anti-drug aid, Congress imposed human rights conditions on Mexico. Now, Human Rights Watch is urging the Obama administration to withhold some of that aid until Mexico deals with human rights abuses by its military.

Events and quotes of note from this week's drug policy events of years past.

Hawaii's Republican Gov. Linda Lingle vetoed a bill that would have created a task force to study problems and issues with the state's medical marijuana program. Now, the legislature has overridden that veto.

Eleven years after DC voters overwhelmingly approved a medical marijuana initiative, Congress is finally butting out. The House yesterday approved the annual District appropriations bill without the Barr amendment, which had barred the District from implementing that vote.

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"Ethan Nadelmann Challenges NAACP to Oppose the Drug War," "The Mexican Drug War is Losing Public Support," "Man Tries to Swallow Drugs, Gets Choked to Death by Police," "Congress Slashes Funding for Anti-Drug Propaganda," "Pablo Escobar's Pet Hippos Are Still Alive (And Causing Big Problems)," "How to Win a Marijuana Debate on Television," "'The Potent Smell of Marijuana Legalization is In the Air'," "No One Takes the Drug Czar's Office Seriously (Not Even the President)," "An Epidemic of Botched Drug Raids in Maryland," "I Was Turned Away Again Trying to Visit Medical Marijuana POW Will Foster in Jail Last Night," "I Visited Imprisoned Medical Marijuana Patient Will Foster in Jail Last Night," "New Hampshire Governor Vetoes Medical Marijuana Bill, A Handful of Additional Votes Needed to Override," "Big News: House Subcommittee Approves Legislation Eliminating the Needle Exchange Funding Ban."